Ipid Act gives Minister 'untrammelled powers' – McBride

The suspended head of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) Robert McBride has asked the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) to set aside his suspension and declare certain portions of the Ipid Act unconstitutional. A report in The Citizen notes that counsel for McBride, Steven Budlender, argued that the Act did not contain sufficient safeguards to ensure that Ipid’s executive director and Ipid itself could act independently. He said the Act gave the Police Minister untrammelled powers to suspend, discipline and remove the head of Ipid from office without Parliament playing any role in the process whatsoever. Budlender said McBride’s aim was not to stop his disciplinary hearing permanently, but to ensure that the process was constitutional. McBride took office in March 2014, but was suspended in December for his role in the controversial Ipid investigation about the alleged involvement of former Hawks head Lieutenant-General Anwa Dramat and provincial head Major-General Shadrack Sibiya in the unlawful rendition of Zimbabweans accused of murdering a policeman in their country, the report states.